Riyadh pays full share into Palestinian funds

Saudi Arabia has paid the last $40 million of its pledge of $250 million into two Arab funds set up to support the Palestinians, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said Tuesday, October 2. The Jerusa

Saudi Arabia has paid the last $40 million of its pledge of $250 million into two Arab funds set up to support the Palestinians, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said Tuesday, October 2.

The Jerusalem Intifada Fund was created last October to support the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the uprising, and the Al-Aqsa Fund to "preserve the Islamic character of east Jerusalem" and support the Palestinian economy.

Both are managed by the IDB, an offshoot of the OrganiZation of the Islamic Conference. At the time they were announced, Arab states pledged a total of one billion dollars to the two funds.

IDB president Ahmad Mohammad Ali said $342 million has been transferred to the Palestinian Authority, mostly in the form of emergency aid to support the Palestinian budget and finance development projects. The two funds have so far allocated $468 million in aid to the Palestinians. ― (AFP, Riyadh)